Page 38 of Home Coming

CHAPTERFOURTEEN

“Do you want the good news or the bad news?” Xander asked over video chat the next morning.

“Um, good?” Bailey glanced around at the chaos surrounding her and realized she could use some good news.

She’d woken to find her life scattered across the apartment floor, except for the stuff that Quinn had fit with military precision into the few large cardboard boxes he’d found waiting by the door to be recycled.

Of course, choosing good news first still left the dread of the bad news hanging over her head.

“Your song hit number one on Spotify,” Xander announced in a satisfied tone that had her wondering if he’d already figured out the Paragon Agency’s percentage of her recent earnings.

That tidbit about her song hitting number one brought Quinn’s head up, drawing his focus away from the box he was packing.

“Wow. That’s great. Thanks.” Bailey tried to rally herself to an appropriate level of enthusiasm.

At the same time she braced herself for when the song would fall—first out of the top ten, then out of the top one hundred until she was barely a memory earning pennies, fifteen percent of which the agency would take.

How many downloads did it take to be number one? Hundreds? Thousands? A hundred thousand? More?

She had no idea. But every download represented another person who had heard her heartbreak. Another potential commenter—good or bad. She felt… exposed.

The urge to curl into a ball and hide under the covers was strong. If only the covers weren’t already folded and awaiting transport.

And this was thegoodnews.

“Now, for the bad news…” Xander began.

Bailey drew in a breath. Might as well get it all over with now. “All right.”

“Axel released a new song.”

Quinn was somehow right there next to her. He laid a hand on Bailey’s shoulder and said, “Let me guess. It’s about Bailey.”

Xander nodded. “Captain Sweatpants got it in one.”

Quinn let out a breath but didn’t respond to Xander’s nickname, possibly because he was actually wearing his gray sweatpants at the moment.

Instead Quinn moved so he was facing Bailey. “Don’t give Axel the satisfaction of saying or doing anything. He’s looking for attention. Don’t give it to him.”

“I agree with the captain. You do need to get back on social. You have sponsor contracts to fulfill, but don’t mention Axel or the song. Business as usual. You’re a brand ambassador. That’s all you talk about. The products. Nothing about him or his song. Someone compliments your song, you thank them and move on. They ask about the relationship, you ignore the comment like you didn’t see it. Do you hear me, Bailey?”

A frown creased Quinn’s brow as he leaned in to speak to Xander on the cell. “She’s not a child. She’s a professional. She’ll be fine.”

That had Xander’s brows shooting high.

“Is that all? We’re kind of busy here,” Quinn asked as he leveled a stare on Xander’s image on the cell.

“Just one more thing. Bailey, did you put a video of Axel naked with another woman on TikTok?”

Oh, shit.

Now it was Quinn’s brows that shot high as his gaze shifted to Bailey.

She forced her gaze back to Xander as she responded, “I took it down immediately.”

She’d only wanted to document his infidelity and since her TikTok app was always open on her cell… Of course, in hindsight it was an epically stupid idea. One that could cost her.

“Bailey, things are never truly gone from the internet. You know that.”

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